An Experimental Analysis of Structure in a Desert Plant Community

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Abstract
A field study was conducted in the Mojave Desert [California, USA] to determine the horizontal distribution of 2 co-dominating species and the degree of interference between individuals of the same species and of different species. Variance/mean analyses indicated that one of the co-dominating species (Larrea tridentata) is regularly distributed and the other (Ambrosia dumosa) is contagiously distributed. The results of a controlled removal experiment showed that water-related interference does occur at this site when water availability is low and that at present interference between species is usually more intense than that within a species. These results, together with nearest-neighbor analyses, revealed that regular distributions may not necessarily indicate present interference among individuals of the same species but rather past interference. The importance of episodic seedling establishment and longevity in horizontal pattern development are also discussed.

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